Water Bills Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Baroness Meacher
Main Page: Baroness Meacher (Crossbench - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Meacher's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Water Bills
Baroness Meacher Excerpts(1 day, 20 hours ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
As we discussed yesterday in the debate on the Bill, the special administration regime is very much a last resort. Of course, we do not want to see customers bailing out water companies, which is why we are working very closely with Ofwat and the water industry to do everything we can to ensure that does not happen.
Baroness Meacher (CB)
My Lords, the cost of water is obviously important—but even more important is the quality of water. Can the Minister assure the House that the Government are taking all steps to put an end to sewage dumping, for example, assuring the cleanliness of the water that we drink?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The Drinking Water Inspectorate is responsible for the quality of the water we drink. Our water in this country is among the highest in quality in the world, along with 10 other countries, so the quality of our drinking water is absolutely immaculate. The issue we have is the quality of water in our waterways and watercourses—and that is the situation we are improving through the Bill that is going through at the moment and through the wider review that we will take part in shortly.